The percentage of the world population suffering from morbid obesity is steadily increasing. Severely obese persons may be susceptible to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, pulmonary disease, and accidents. Because of the effects of morbid obesity on the life of the patient, methods of treating morbid obesity have been the subject of intense research.
One known method for treating morbid obesity includes the use of anastomotic rings. Devices for applying anastomotic rings are known in the art. Devices of this nature are commonly adapted to insert a compressed anastomotic ring to an anastomotic opening formed between proximate gastrointestinal tissue walls. These applier devices may utilize a ring deployment mechanism comprising an expansion element that is actuated once the compressed ring is placed in the anastomotic opening, causing the anastomotic ring to expand from its compressed, cylindrically-shaped position to an actuated, hollow rivet-shaped position.
Many conventional applier devices require that an actuation force be transmitted from the operating handle to the distal ring deployment mechanism. While this force is generally relatively small, even a low force may be prohibitive when it must be transmitted to the end of a long flexible or detached structure. Also, when the elongated shaft of the applier device includes one or more flexible joints, the control wires generally used to transmit actuating force through the flexible joints might be susceptible to buckling or twisting. In addition, with some applier devices that include flexible joints, force transmission through wires controlling the ring deployment mechanism might have the undesirable effect of straightening the flexible joint from its intended orientation due to increased tension in the transmission wires.
Consequently, it may be desirable to have an anastomotic ring applier device that is capable of deploying an anastomotic ring without requiring that a large actuating force be transferred from a proximal portion of the device to a distal portion thereof.